A Good Ride for Hickey and Cabana Boy Despite Little Warm-Up

One thing Hickey learned about the American bred Cabana Boy on the second day of competition is that this horse will do the job even without a proper warm-up. The two have been a pair for only a little more than a month so they’re still getting to know one another. And during Sunday’s finale test, the rain came pouring down just as Hickey was about to start his warm-up. Rain throughout the night had already made a mess of the warm-up rings.

“The footing was a bit slippery and I didn’t want him to go out there and have a bad experience, especially since he doesn’t know me and I don’t really know him,” Hickey said. “You have to start off a relationship feeling confident. The only way to make a good show horse is to build up confidence.”

Hence, Hickey didn’t get to prepare the horse as he had hoped because he feared Cabana Boy might get hurt in the slippery warm-up footing. The show ring, fortunately, was under cover. “But I had to warm up in the pouring rain and in the muck and I’ve never ridden him in the muck before. The footing was so bad in the warm-up ring that I went back to the barn and stood under an overhang until the person who went before me went into the ring. Then I went out to the warm-up ring and did a few things and then went into the ring and just rode.”

Considering that, Hickey was quite happy with how well Cabana Boy performed on the finale test day of the Markel Young Horse competition. “I’m really pleased with the horse. I couldn’t be more happy. He went out and did what I asked him to do without questioning it or anything.”

The judges seemed pleased as well. While they commented that Cabana Boy seemed a bit tired in his trot, they felt the canter work was better than during the preliminary test the previous day. Cabana Boy (Contucci out of Britania) owned by Hilltop Farm and bred by Doug & Shannon Langer of Maple Wood Farm in Wisconsin, is an American bred and trained Young Horse with a shot at the FEI World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in Verden, Germany this August. Their final score puts them a step closer to an invitation to Verden, which, if offered, Hickey said he’ll accept.

BobTarr.com Photos of Chris Hickey and Cabana Boy, and with USEF's Gil Merrick, John Seger, Judges Janet Foy and Jayne Ayers, and Brandon and Lisa Seger.

Markel/USEF Dressage Test for 5 Year Old Horses - Final